Why Only Collecting Reviews Isn't Enough Anymore

If you’re running an online shop and collect customer reviews, then you are already on the right track to increasing your trustworthiness. However, there are a couple things left for you to consider if you want your sales to increase. After the tremendous growth that the e-commerce industry has experienced since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, reviews are no longer enough to display your reliability. There is still more you can do in order to get customers to buy from your online shop! In this article, we’ll explain what you can do to achieve this goal.

Contents:

1. Why reviews are only the beginning

2. Displaying your own reviews

3. The importance of trustmarks in e-commerce

4. Benefits of offering a buyer protection to your customers

Reviews aren’t enough when it comes to trust

Don’t get me wrong; product and service reviews are still very important in the e-commerce world.

However, the European Commission found that only 35% of consumers in European countries tended to trust the internet in 2021.

Customer reviews on the other hand, are social proof that guide your customers on their shopping journey.

They not only indicate that both your online shop and your entire brand is trustworthy, but also inform readers about the quality of your products and services.

Therefore, in order to convince potential customers to buy from your shop and generate a high conversion rate, customer reviews are essential.

As you probably prefer satisfied customers (and not only dissatisfied ones) to evaluate their last order, you have to actively collect feedback from customers. For this reason, we recommend you to reach out to them and ask them for feedback on your products and services by asking them for online reviews.

Recommended Reading:
How to Create a Survey for Your Customers

Displaying your own reviews

Authentic online reviews that have been written by real customers help convey more trust in your online shop.

One thing to keep in mind is that buyers tend to look for reviews from other sources as well. That's why it's important to display them directly on your site: Don't give them a reason to leave your website.

If a third-party reviews provider displays reviews for your business while you don't share them on your site directly, there's a chance you have a lower rating than you deserve. You should work on directing some of your new reviews to these other sites in order to protect and manage your brand’s online reputation.

Recommended Reading:
How to Handle Negative Online Reviews

To help shop owners like you get a hold of and manage all the reviews generated for your shop, Trusted Shops has come up with a solution: The Reputation Manager.

With the Reputation Manager, you can deliver a consistent, positive brand image on all channels. This way, you not only generate more SEO power, but also increase traffic for your website.

Why you need a trustmark for your online shop

The massive growth in the e-commerce sector since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has also had its downsides. It’s no secret that an increase of new online shops also led to more fake shops.

These fake shops are getting better and better at imitating authentic online shops, which makes it difficult for customers to judge which one to trust.

Nowadays, almost every online shop collects reviews, making this element of trust no longer something that distinguishes one shop from another. Most of your competitors probably collect and display reviews as well.

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Therefore, you will have to go one step further to differentiate your brand from the competition and prove your company’s trustworthiness to potential buyers.

How, you might ask, is that possible? By integrating a trustmark in your online shop!

As a seal of quality, a trustmark gives potential customers the certainty that your shop has been thoroughly checked by an external authority and that this company approves of the quality and reliability of your online shop.

Especially if you’re running a small online business or only just took the first steps into the e-commerce world, it is important to have a trustmark.

Potential customers may have never heard of your brand before and need some kind of quality assurance that will convince them to buy from your shop.

Don’t get me wrong here: do not underestimate the power of a trustmark for big brands as well!

A trustmark is more than just an 'OK'; it shows that your brand represents quality and is trustworthy.

The Trusted Shops Trustmark, for example, is one of the best-known online quality seals in Europe. If you’re selling your products to more than one country, you can even include the Trustmark for all of your shop’s domains.

Whether your customers come from the Netherlands or Belgium, from Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France or Portugal... with the Trusted Shops Trustmark, your customers will know they can trust your brand.

A trustmark can actually do something that reviews cannot convey: display the approval of an industry expert and external provider.

The benefits of a Buyer Protection

There are several providers of quality seal for online shops; most probably your competitors already display one of their own.

That is why, when deciding on which trustmark and how to stand out from the competition, you need to consider more than one criteria. Make sure to consider the added value that the trustmark you're considering offers to your customers.

By obtaining the Trusted Shops Trustmark, for example, you’re automatically offering your customers a Buyer Protection in the event of non-delivery of the product or non-refund of the money spent. In other words: one more reason to trust your shop.

With the buyer protection, online shoppers can safely place an order in your shop and don’t have to worry about something going wrong as they won’t be left empty-handed.

This free 30-day protection is especially valuable when it comes to a large order value, for example if a customer orders a sofa or TV.

If the Buyer Protection you offer is provided by another company (e.g. Trusted Shops), your customers will benefit as their order is being safeguarded by a second authority as well.

In fact, the Trusted Shops Buyer Protection guarantees online orders up to an amount of €2,500 (or £2,500) in case of non-delivery or after returning goods.

Conclusion

When it comes to trust in the online world, customer reviews are only a part of what makes potential customers trust an online brand. Many new online shops have entered the e-commerce sector and they all strive to be the best and create the most trustworthy brand image.

These days, more than ever, it is important to always keep up with the latest trends and developments in the market in order to stand out from the competition.

Therefore, we recommend you to keep collecting reviews, especially from different review platforms. Consider adding a trustmark and a buyer protection to your online shop to convey even more trust to potential buyers.

You will see: your sales will increase, as well as the awareness of your brand.

Curious to find out how the Trusted Shops solutions can help you with that? Our experts are happy to help you answer all of your questions.

Don’t hesitate to contact us!